The President's Daily Brief - April 10th, 2024: Rafah D-Day Set, Eastern Alliance, & Congressional Controversy

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A looming confrontation: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets a date for the military offensive in Rafah amid crumbling ceasefire efforts. We take a deep dive into the strengthening ties between Russia and China as they face potential new sanctions from the US. US Central Command finds a creative way to keep weapons flowing to Ukraine, announcing it’s transferring a massive cache of seized Iranian weapons to the embattled nation. Members of Congress were met with new drama as they returned from Easter break on Tuesday, with Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene appearing ready to launch a bid to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Transform your sleep with Beam's dream. Now, as you may already know, it's the secret behind 15 million nights of improved sleep. Fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. I mean, honestly, how could you want anything more? Get up to 40% off at shopbeam.com slash PDB and use the code PDB. It's Wednesday, 10 April. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker.

your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll kick off today's show in Israel, where Prime Minister Netanyahu has announced that a date has been set for the Israeli military's long-anticipated offensive in the Gaza city of Rafa. Now, the news comes as yet another ceasefire proposal appears to have hit a dead end. Coming up later in the show, we'll examine new moves by Russia and China to solidify their alliance, despite warnings of new sanctions from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Now, wait, I thought Secretary Yellen gave the Chinese regime the what-for during her trip to Beijing over the past few days. All right, well, we'll see what happens. Plus, U.S. Central Command finds a creative way to keep weapons flowing

to Ukraine, announcing it's transferring a large cash of seized Iranian weapons to the embattled nation. Now, I don't know how you say poetic justice in either Farsi or Ukrainian, but that would be a textbook definition. And in today's back of the brief, members of Congress were met with new drama as they returned from Easter break on Tuesday with Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, appearing ready to launch a bid to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. Did I say drama? Yeah, I meant dysfunction. They both begin with a D. But first, today's BDB spotlight. Just days after announcing the withdrawal of troops from southern Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is doubling down on his intent to launch an offensive into the city of Rafa.

During a video address on Monday, Netanyahu said, quote, We are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost to the release of all our hostages, and achieving a complete victory over Hamas. This victory requires entry into Rafa and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen. there is a date, end quote. The prime minister did not elaborate on when that date was. However, just hours later, Israeli defense minister Yov Galat directly contradicted the prime minister's claim. According to our report in Axios, Galat told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday

that Israel has not yet set a date for an operation in Rafah. Now, here's a pro tip in case you're thinking of engaging in major urban combat. Don't announce the start date. During a press conference in Washington, alongside UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed that the U.S. hasn't been notified of any date for a Rafa offensive, adding that discussions between the U.S. and Israel regarding a potential operation are still ongoing. Blinken told reporters, quote, we're talking to them about alternative and effective ways of solving the problems that need to be solved, but doing it in a way that does not endanger

the innocent, end quote. Well, and if anybody knows about counterterrorism operations and urban combat, it's the U.S. Secretary of State and former Biden campaign strategist Anthony Blinken. A senior-level delegation of Israeli officials is set to visit Washington next week to discuss the matter further. Blinken added that he didn't anticipate any actions from Israel before those talks and that no invasion appeared to be imminent. Meanwhile, despite Israel's dramatic drawdown of troops earlier this week,

military operations in the Palestinian enclave appear to be ongoing. Israeli airstrikes have reportedly continued in parts of central and southern Gaza, including in the city of Rafa itself. Well, that would be, of course, because Hamas is still in existence and operating several battalions in and around Rafa. At the same time, mediators in Cairo continue negotiations for a potential ceasefire in Gaza. CIA director Bill Burns presented a new proposal earlier this week in an effort to get parties on the same page. According to sources interviewed by CNN, the U.S. proposal is for Israel

to release 900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages who would be freed during the first phase of what's expected to be a three-stage ceasefire deal. However, once again, these negotiations seem to be going, what's the word I'm looking for, nowhere. On Tuesday, Hamas all but rejected the proposal, they rejected the proposal, saying it did not meet their demands, their demands. The delegation from the terror group added that they would study the offer further and deliver its response to mediators in the coming days. Now, in case you're thinking that this whole goat rope seems a bit upside down, that it's surreal that the terror organization responsible for the brutal death and rape and torture of 1,200 civilians and the holding of over 100 hostages

still, the terror organization that started this war and hides behind Gaza residents, well, the idea that they're making demands and acting as if they're the aggrieved party, well, yeah, you've got a right to be confused. Hamas, with the support of their sugar daddy Iran, started this disaster, and they knew, frankly, they counted on dead Palestinians. And now the international community, including the Biden White House, fearful of losing votes in the November election, are prepared to demand an end to the conflict that Hamas started, knowing that leaving Hamas in place, able to rebuild and rearm, will just guarantee the same cycle of violence and death. Look, no offense, but Hamas doesn't care about the well-being or future prosperity of Palestinians.

Their purpose in life, as they've stated many times, is the destruction of Israel. Not allowing Israel to destroy the remaining elements of Hamas may make all the protesters feel righteous, I'm sure it does, but they're consigning the Palestinians and the Israelis to more of the same. There's the world that you'd like to imagine and that you might pretend exist for the sake of your arguments, and then there's the world as it is. All right, after the break, Russia and China fortify their partnership, despite the threat of new sanctions by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during her very recent visit to Beijing. Apparently, she wasn't convinced. And U.S. Central Command redirects a stockpile of confiscated Iranian arms.

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Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak, and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. back. Just a day after the U.S. warned China against giving financial support to Russia's military industrial base amid their war on Ukraine, the two powers gave the proverbial one-finger salute to the United States, promising to deepen their growing alliance. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was in China this week to meet with his counterpart in the CCP, along with

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, to oppose what both countries describe as U.S. attempts to dominate the global stage and dictate to foreign nations. That's according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The meeting also provided another opportunity for Russia to boost trade with Beijing in an attempt to bypass Western sanctions leveled against the Kremlin since the war in Ukraine broke out, and by broke out, I mean since Russia invaded Ukraine. For China, the meeting came amid threats from U.S. officials of sanctions if they continue to financially support the Putin regime's war industry. Following the discussions, Lavrov said, quote, there is no place for dictatorship, hegemony, neocolonial, and colonial practices, which are now being applied by the

United States and all the rest of the collective West, it's a collective West, unquestioningly submitting to the will of Washington, end quote. Now, we should remember that China has positioned itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, sending envoys to both countries. However, they've never condemned the invasion by Putin or even formally called the conflict a war. They instead refer to it as the Ukraine crisis. That's very Chinese and their attempts to project a position of neutrality. She has also given his good friend Putin a critical financial lifeline. Now, as we've previously discussed on the BDB, China is credited with greatly accelerating the rebuilding of Russia's defense industrial complex, filling the gap left by former European trade partners. Trade between

the two countries reportedly surged by more than 26% in 2023, totaling roughly $240 billion. This essential support has allowed the Putin regime to fully rebuild its military capabilities, according to senior Pentagon officials, despite the massive losses of personnel and equipment that they faced on Ukrainian battlefields. On Tuesday, Lavrov even thanked the CCP, saying he was, quote, grateful to our Chinese friends for their objective, balanced position and for their willingness to play a positive role in the matter of a political and diplomatic settlement, end quote. And he said that with a straight face. Yes, because Putin and Lavrov have been desperately searching for a political and diplomatic settlement to the Ukraine crisis.

While the U.S. has not yet accused China of providing Russia with direct military aid like North Korea and Iran, China's continued support of Russia's industrial base walks a very fine line, at least as far as the Biden White House is concerned. Other folks might say that China isn't walking a fine line at all. They are clearly aiding Russia in its war effort and clearly unconcerned about what they probably view as empty threats from the White House. As we reported earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned CCP leaders while on a diplomatic visit to Beijing on Monday. Monday, that any direct assistance from China to Russia's armed forces will trigger a wave of sanctions. Now, China, for their part, has dismissed those concerns, instead accusing the U.S. of

provoking greater escalation by helping arm Ukraine. The latest flirtation between the two powers, meaning the bromance between Russia and China, will likely only heighten concerns among Western officials regarding the relationship, particularly amid the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and renewed aggression in the South China Sea by the Xi regime. Shifting our attention to Ukraine, the U.S. is putting Iranian weapons meant for their Middle East proxies to work on the front lines of the war against Russia. Now, this could actually be the most logical thing that we've ever seen from a U.S. government. U.S. Central Command announced on Tuesday that they have recently transferred thousands of machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket

launchers and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine, which is currently facing a severe shortage of munitions, according to a CNN report. Now, the irony of the situation is hopefully obvious, as Iran has long been trafficking arms to militants across the Middle East as well as to Russia to replenish their resources as Putin's war against Ukraine drags on. Now, those Iranian weapons will be turned against the Putin regime. In a statement on Tuesday, sentcom said, quote, these weapons will help Ukraine defend against Russia's invasion. Iran's support for armed groups threatens international and regional security,

our forces, diplomatic personnel, and citizens in the region, as well as those of our partners. We will continue to do whatever we can to shed light on and stop Iran's destabilizing activities, end quote. Officials said that the cash of weapons were seized by the U.S. military and its partners from four vessels linked to Iran between May of 2021 and February of 2023, although the U.S. did not officially take possession of the weapons until the December of 2023. The weapons were being smuggled by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, to the Houthi militants in Yemen.

The hall is reportedly enough to arm one Ukrainian brigade, or around 4,000 Ukrainian personnel with small arms rifles. According to CENTCOM, it includes 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, and RPG-7s, along with more than half a million rounds of ammunition. We should note that this is not the first time that the U.S. has sent Iranian arms to aid Ukraine in their fight against the Putin regime. In October of 2023, the U.S. sent roughly 1 million rounds of seized Iranian ammunition to the front lines of the war.

The announcement comes as the U.S. continues to fight Iran. Iranian efforts to smuggle weapons to belligerent actors in the Middle East, and by belligerent actors, I mean Iranian proxies. In March, U.S. officials said they were bolstering efforts to surveil and intercept Iranian weapons shipments amid the relentless attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea by the Iranian Bajhotis. Officials with knowledge of the new effort said it involves mapping seafaring routes used by Tehran to better understand how the regime moves weapons to their proxies. Since 2013, U.S. and coalition forces have conducted some 18 maritime interdictions linked to Iranian weapon smuggling and seizing a variety of hardware and munitions.

All right. Coming up next, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green sends a scathing letter, a scathing letter to her Republican colleagues setting the stage for a new effort to remove Mike Johnson from the speakership. And just when, you thought things couldn't get dumber on Capitol Hill. I'll have the details when we come back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks, or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle.

Restrictions apply. In today's back of the brief, members of Congress returned to Washington on Tuesday after their two-week Easter break, I hope it was relaxing, and the drama picked up right where it left off, with Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, renewing her threat to upend the legislative body and oust the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. MTG, as she's known apparently by people who specialize in, I don't know, acronyms and initials, sent an open letter to her Republican colleagues, explaining her rationale for filing a motion to vacate against Johnson, a move that could ultimately lead to his removal. If you remember, Green originally announced she was filing a motion

to vacate on March 22nd after the House passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill in order to avert a government shutdown. She hasn't yet brought the motion to the floor, which would trigger a full House of vote. Are you confused yet? In the letter, Green accused Johnson of marching in total lockstep with the Democrats' agenda, accusing him of working with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and President Biden over his own Republican caucus. Also, among MTG's list of grievances, and apparently she's got a bunch of grievances, is Johnson's failure to follow through on seven, quote, key priorities that he laid out when running for Speaker back in October. At the time, Johnson said he would restore trust, advance a comprehensive policy agenda,

promote individual members, engage members, effectively message, built coalitions, grow the GOP majority, and buy everybody a pony. Maybe not the last one. I'm not sure about that. That might be a typo. Green writes, quoting, Mike Johnson has unfortunately not lived up to a single one of his self-imposed tenants, end quote.

Now, the Georgia Congresswoman has not said when she plans to trigger a vote on her resolution, saying that filing the motion should serve as a warning. Oh, it's a warning. She has, however, indicated that bringing Ukraine funding would be a red line. Now, I don't know about you, but I remember at time, it didn't seem like it was that long ago, when if you called yourself a conservative and a Republican, you probably were all about defeating

communism and warmongering dictators. I guess that times have changed. No Republicans have publicly backed the effort, but one of her former colleagues, Ken Buck, who left Congress last month, unloaded on Taylor Green with both barrels on Monday. During an interview with CNN, Buck called MTG Moscow Marjorie and accused her of being more concerned with social media and being popular than actually governing. Now, I'm trying to spot the lie in Buck's statement, but without any success. The current dysfunction on Capitol Hill is probably the best advertisement yet for term limits in campaign finance reform. That may not completely solve the problem, but it might reduce the number of clowns trying to squeeze into the car. And that, my friends, is the president's

daily brief for Wednesday, 10 April. If you have any questions or comments, please, reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.